Machine for applying eye fasteners



E. M. BRAYTON MACHINE FOR APPLYING EYE FASTENERS June 11, 1957 Filed March v 1e 1 953 N 0 5 7 Y 1 RY E m Wm M m E p? m M 5 m .n mm 8 A" .Y I I I a A m W 4 7 7 m L! 5 1 4 4 m 4 a W T. K 27 a K L a 7/ a n .IIH n |l 7 June 11, 1957 E, M; BMYTQN 2,794,981

MACHINE FOR APPLYING EYE FASTENERS Filed March '19. 1953 r s Sheets-Sheet 2 7O INVENTOR. 72 [LLEIQY M 64: wow

BY wiwmmm Mar ins-r91 At Y G EYE FASTENERS f Ellery M. Brayton,-Southington, Conn, assignon by mesne assi nments; to

Industrial Development Corporation,

' Chicago,illl'.,acpi'poration oflliinois Application March 19, 19 s, sennrs srtazin p Claims. (or. 1-4) qrat lr-inde erm e lo o s a m n e it i ansbia of h s i n to p o id m t o n 'enPe atu Q e fect ve y en en y o m y' setting the fittings in such manner as, for instance, to

prevent occurrence of damage to supporting clothing or scu ityio -at achme t of the n s t ere by s j tipnof-suppprtingclothing structure such as garment fiies United States PatentO i gr placketswto transverse stresses and strains incident to i ns w a and r ugh us It is'a-further ojbjectof this invention to provide a rnachineifor eifecting'bendi'ng of the prongs, tines, or projections of the eye units of such fittings or fastening devices tightly, under compression, intoflsharp preciseand exact right "angles in order that the bent-over portions thereof shalljlie flat and closelyengage the'stay or backing plate surfaces, which are preferably recessed forwardlyjof the plate or general extent of the aforesaid stay'or' backing plate, for tightness and security of .con-' nection and neatnessand compactness in the attached and set unit.

It is a further object of this inventionto provide a machine which is particularly adapted to the attachment and/or setting ofssu ch fastening devices or units to cloth-' ing and especially of the eye units of so-called hook and eye fastener units to the fly and placket closures and closnre portions of garments provided'with slide fasteners or zippers-.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide such apparatus in the form of attachments for commercial presses, either of the manual, hand or foot operated type or of the hand or foot controlled power presses of well-known type and which apparatus is of simple construction, readily and conveniently attachable to commercial presses'of Widely varying types, requiring but slight skill and/or aptitude for efiicient operation, and readily adjustable for widely varying fastener types and garment constructions, models, sizes, etc.

Further objects of this invention are to provide in such apparatus, yieldingly supported transparent or semi-transparent gauge means cooperating with the slide fasteners or zippers, or other portions or attachments of garments, to locate the staple type fastener unit and affording full or substantial vision of the appropriate garment portions throughout the fastener unit setting operation, which gauge means are provided with suitable indicia, and supported by readily adjustable and attachable spring hinge members normally supporting the gauge means in upraised positions facilitating location of the garment portions therebeneath, and subsequent positive engagement of the gauge means with the slide fastener or other parts or portions of the garment closure portions.

Further objects'reside in the provision of new and improved garment locating and compound prong or time ice bending force orstress applying means to secure the desired location of the hook units to garments with the desired security, compactness and firmnessof attachment.

These and other. objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description taken with the drawing, forming a part thereof, and will be pointed out in the appended claims.

' Referring to the drawing wherein I have illustrated certain preferred embodiments of my invention:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a typical trouser garment equipped with a hook and eye assembly according tothis invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged exploded isometric view of a preferred form of eye unit of the hook and eye assembly of Fig. laccording to this invention, before attachment 9 Se t n Fig. 3 is a fragmentary top plan view of a preferred form of apparatus for attaching and setting eye units to garments according to this invention with parts of the garment and apparatus cut away and with the eye carrying upper die and associated structure omitted in the interest of clear disclosure;

Fig.;4-is afraginentary view in section of the apparatus shown in Fig. 3 taken substantially along the plane indipared by the line 474 in Fig. 3;

- jFig. "Sis an isometric view of the lower, prong or tine clinchin'g and setting die u'nit'of the apparatus;

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 3 with the eye unit carrying upper die and garment i 6 and showing the 'upperdie unit and associated power head or plunger supporting aprong carrying cross-bar member which 'formsfa part'of the eye unit shown in Figs. land 2;

Fig. 8 is alfragmentary enlargedelevation in section showing details ofthe upper and lower die units and associated structure in a position assumedtthereby prior to clinching or setting of the eye unitj I A Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig.8 but taken substantially along the plane indicated by the line -99in Fig. 8; i

Fig. l0 is a view' generally similar to Fig. 8 but showing the parts in a position assumed thereby at the completion of a prong or tine clinching operation;

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of a clinched eye unit with surrounding and supporting garment material; i i

Fig. 12 is an isometric view of a modified form of upper die particularly adapted to handle ferrous or other magnetically attractive prong carrying eye unitsj and Fig. 13 is an elevation ofthe structure shown in Fig. 12 and illustrating the position assumed. by a prong carrying eye member carriedthereby. i

'A ho'ok and eye fastener including the hook stay assembly or hook unit of thisinvention as a p artli s shown in Fig.1 in a typical trouser garment application or installation althoughit is understood, of -course, that the fastenerrmay beiise dv in skirts, other garments and airticles of widely varying types- In the garment construction shown, the righthand flap portion 21 supports an attached eye unit generally desig- In Fig. 2 the details of one illustrative preferred form 3 of eye unit 23 are shown. This eye unit comprises a bar member 25 provided with a central longitudinally arranged embossed or channeled contour portion 25 adapted to engage the hook unit 24 and rock thereon in a manner which will be clearly understood from Fig. 1.

The opposite ends of the bar member 25 are turned down to provide a pair of substantially parallel prong members 26 extending rearwardly from the channeled portion 25 of the bar member 25 and having a portion 27 of substantially rectangular form extending the width of the bar member 25 from each of which portions 27 extends a sharpened portion 28 adapted to penetrate the garment fabric to the extent permitted by the shoulders 29 which form abutments for that purpose.

Cooperating with the bar member 25fl29 to form the unit 23 is a backing plate 30 of substantially planar form but provided with apertures or piercings 31 adapted for alignment with prong members 26 which are adapted to extend therethrough as will hereinafter appear. At opposite sides the backing plate 30 is provided with longitudinal embossed or channeled portions 32 which project rearwardly from the main portion of the backing plate 30 and provide therebetween a channel adapted to receive the above-described prong members 26 in recessed manner in order that the unit 23 shall be compact when set or attached in a garment.

The embossed or channeled portions 32, 32 in addition to performing this function also closely engage the garment material clamped between the members 25, 30 to inhibit transverse movement of the unit 23 which might damage the garment material and also aids in inhibiting misalignment of units 23 and 24.

Asshown in Fig. 1 the illustrative trouser garment may comprise a righthand trunk portion 33 with white fly piece 34 secured thereto by a line of stitching 35 which also secures the righthand stringer tape 36 of a conventional slide fastener orzipper" thereto.

The upper end portion of this stringer tape 36, beyond the row of interlocking fastener members or scoops 37, extends beneath the waistband 38 to which the trunk portion 33 and white fly piece 34 are secured by means of the seam 39. The lefthand flap portion of the garment is of generally similar construction but is not herein described since lthis invention is concerned particularly with attachment of the eye unit23 to the righthand flap portion 21 of the garment.

A preferred form of my apparatus for attaching and setting the afore-described eye units 23 of Fig. 2 to the righthand flap portions of garments as illustrated in Fig. 1 comprises apparatus as generally illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 which is readily adapted to attachment to commercial presses either of the manual handor foot-operated type, or of handor foot'controlled power driven type, this apparatus being of extremely simple construction readily and conveniently adaptable to presses of such widely varying types and requiring but slight skill and/ or aptitude for etficient operation andbeing readily adjustable for widely varying fastener types and garment constructions, models, sizes, etc.

As shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the attachment comprises a lower or bottom die assembly generally designated 40 adapted to rest upon the base or table 41 (Figs. 7, 8 and of a conventionalpress (not shown) having a verti- -ca1ly reciprocatory plunger 42 to which is attached the upper die unit or assembly 43, shown in detail in Figs. 8-10. The lower die assembly 40 is retained in position, as hereinafter described, by its attachment to a work supporting or garment material supporting plate 44 secured in suitable known manner and by any-desired known means (not shown) above the base or table 41.

As shown in Figs. 7-10, the upper and lower die units or assemblies 40, 43 are aligned and adapted to cooperate as shown particularly in Figs. 8-10 to cause projection of the sharpened tine portions 28 of the bar member 25 through the garment material to a pre-determined extent whereupon the prongs 26 are folded over toward one another over the back of the backing plate 30 between the portions 32, 32 thereof as shown in Fig. 11, the lower die unit being particularly adapted to cause a precise bending of the prongs 28 as shown particularly in Fig. 10.

Cooperating with the above-described structure and adapted to facilitate proper and exact location of the eye units 23 with respect to the slide fastener and other portions of the righthand garment flap portion 21 is the transparent gauge plate 45 which is preferably formed of Lucite or other suitable material possessed of the required transparency and resistance to breakage.

This gauge plate 45 is supported in such manner that it normally extends at an appreciably upward angle (up to 45 from the work supporting plate 44 in order to facilitate placement of the righthand garment flap portion therebeneath and over the lower die unit 40 in order to locate the complementary members 25 and 30 of the eye unit 23 prior to descent of the plunger 42 from the position of Fig. 7 through that of Figs. 8 and 9 to the position of Fig. 10. The above-mentioned means for supporting the transparent gauge plate 45 comprises a pair of spring hinge members which are adapted for adjustable attachment both transversely and fore-andaft with respect to the work supporting plate 44 as will be understood from Figs. 3, 4 and 6.

The spring hinge members each comprise a plate member 46 having its forward end secured in suitable manner as by rivets 47 to the rear edge portion of the gauge plate 45 and each having downturned ears 48 at its rear end provided with apertures adapted to receive the hinge pins 49 which extend through suitable apertures or bores provided in the clamp or jaw member 50 which straddles the plate 44 and which may be secured in any desired adjustment thereon by means of the thumb screw 51.

Disposed between the plates 46 and the clamps or jaws 50 are biasing springs 52 preferable of platelike form, as shown in Fig. 3, and provided at their rearward ends with apertures adapted to receive clamping screws 53 extending therethrough and threaded into the clamps or jaw members 50 in order that the tension provided by these springs 52 may be adjusted as desired.

As shown in Fig. 6, the gauge plate 45 is provided with an aperture or notch 55 permitting free passage of the upper die unit 43 and supported bar members from the position of Fig. 7 to that of Fig. 10 while the transparent gauge plate 45 is maintained in contact with the garment material spread smoothly over the lower die unit 40 on the work supporting plate 44.

As shown in Figs. 3 and 6, the gauge plate 45 is provided with a fore-and-aft bevelled edge portion 56 adapted for engagement with the row of .fastener members or scoops 37 of a slide fastener such as that described above in order to locate the garment flap portion transversely with respect to the upper and lower die units as shown particularly in Fig. 3.

As seen in Figures 3 and 6, gauge plate 45 also includes transverse scoring 56a arranged perpendicular to beveled edge portion 56. The garment portion to be positioned for attaching the staple type eye unit may be seen through transparent gauge plate 45. Thus, other characteristics of the garment portion, such as the pattern thereof, may be aligned with scoring 56a as an additional means of assuring proper relative position of the garment portion and the eye unit to be attached to it.

As shown in Figs. 7-10, "the upper die unit 43 may comprise a hollow shaft portion 57 with a bore enclosing a set screw 58 adjustably engaging a compression spring 59 disposed between the set screw 58 and the head 60 of a retaining pin 61 which is resiliently biased by spring 59 toward a substantially horizontal bar rest 62 having an integral bracket portion 63 secured in suitable manner (as by screws 64) to the hollow shaft portion 57 as shown in Figs. 7 and 8.

As shown particularly 'in' Fig. retaining pin .61 engages the embossed or channeled portion 25 of the bar member 25 to retain it against displacement in the upper die unit. As would be readily understood from Fig. 9, the

bar member may be pushed in sidewis e from right to left as seen in that figure to an extent limited by the bracket portion 63 of the upper die unit.

Where the members as 25* (Fig. 13) are formed of ferrous or other magnetically attractive material, a simplified form of upper die unit may be used as shown in Figs. 12 and 13 which comprises a high efiiciency magnet 65 of the Alnico type formed of aluminum, nickel and cobalt metallic powders, highly compressed and sintered.

As shown, the magnet 65 is preferably of horseshoe type and is provided with a nonmagnetic plate 66 secured thereto in suitable manner to maintain the member 25 snugly between the poles thereof as shown in Fig. 13.

The details of the lower die unit 40 are shown in Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8-10.

As shown, the die unit comprises a base 68 adapted to rest upon the above-described base or table 41 of the press provided with a centrally arranged aperture or channel 69 supporting the lower end portion of a thrust plate 70 having a prong bending link carrier 71 telescopically supported by its upper end portion and also resiliently supported by a plurality of compression springs 72 disposed between the base 68 and the link carrier 71.

A vertical slot 73 extending through the plate 70 cooperates with a pin 74 extending therethrough (with its ends secured in the carrier 71) to limit vertical movement of the carrier 71 and supported parts with respect to the base 68 and the press base or table 41.

As shown in Fig. 5, the upper end portion of the carrier 71 is provided with a slot 75 in which are disposed a pair of prong bending links 76 with their apertured outer end portions rotatably supported on pivot pins 77 having their ends secured in the link carrier 71 as shown in Figs. and 9. The backing plate 30 is nested in a seat in the carrier 71 so that it is properly positioned to receive the prong members 26. The seal is formed between raised portions of the upper face of the carrier 71 as best seen in Figures 5, 8 and 9.

At their inner ends, the prong bending links 76 are provided with substantially triangular end portions 7 8 of which one edge rests upon the upper surface of the plate 70 as shown in Fig. 8 in the upwardly expanded position of the lower die parts while the adjacent surface is inclined with respect to the downwardly disposed tines of the prong portions in such manner that these latter edges progressively engage the prongs or tines of the bar memher as the parts progress from the position of Fig. 8 to that of Fig. 10. The links 76 thereby present constantly changing contact surfaces to the tines or prongs 26 and effect the application of compound, crowbar-like, prong bending forces and cause sharp bending of the prongs through precise 90 angles as shown in Fig. 10.

The contact areas or surfaces of the links 76 are designated 79 in Figs. 8 and and, as shown, they are offset downwardly in order that the surfaces 79 in the downward or home position of parts (Fig. 10) will be planar or in precise parallelism when the eye unit 23 is set and will be spaced from the surface of the backing plate the exact distance represented by the thickness of the prongs In order that the relative movement of parts illustrated in Figs. 8-10 shall be permitted, the link carrier 71 is supported in a rectangular aperture 80 provided in the garment or work supporting plate 44 and a plurality of guiding brackets 81 (Fig. 7) are preferably secured to the lower surface of the plate 44.

It is, of course, to be understood that the above description is merely illustrative and in nowise limiting and that I desire to comprehend within my invention such modifications as are included in the scope of the following claims.

"mam

Havingthus fully described my invention, what I claim as 'neW-and'desireto secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a machine for attachmentofapronged eyemem- .ber to a backing.platewithatextile material inbetween,

the combiriationwithmeans for displacement of the p rlonged'member..linearlyina direction .toward and away ifrom'the backing plate,..or an upper. die block having a recess in the upper surface dimensioned to receive the backing plate in a horizontally disposed position therein and a slot extending downwardly from the recess through a central portion of the upper die block dimensioned to be less in width than the Width of the recess but greater than the width of the prongs of the pronged member to support the backing plate in the recess while enabling the prongs to extend through the openings in the backing plate into the slot, a pair of bending levers pivotally mounted at their outer edges onto the opposite sides of the upper die block in alignment with the slot for rocking movement of the levers within the slot between a raised and a lowered normal position, a stationary ram plate slidable in said slot in the upper die block for relative endwise movement of the upper die block between a normal raised position and a lowered position, and means constantly urging the upper die block in the direction away from the ram towards its normal raised position, said bending levers having a portion operatively engaging the upper end of the ram in the slot whereby the levers are caused to rock about their pivots from lowered to raised position to bend the prongs extending through the slot into the path thereof responsive to displacement of the upper die block from raised to lowered position on said ram.

2. A machine as claimed in claim 1 in which the upper die block is displaced from normal raised position to lowered position responsive to continued displacement of the pronged member in the direction towards the anchor plate after the prongs of the prong member have been displaced through the openings of the anchor plate into the slot.

3. A machine as claimed in claim 1 which includes means for limiting relative movement between the ram' and the upper die block to between raised and lowered position including a pin in the upper die block extending laterally into the slot and a slot in the cam plate dimensioned to receive the pin slidably therein and to have a length in the direction of relative movement corresponding to the amount of relative movement plus the thickness of the pin to stop the upper die block in raised and lowered positions.

4. A machine as claimed in claim 1 in which the bending levers are formed with a flat forward edge which is horizontally disposed when in normal lowered position to rest upon the upper surface of the cam and in which the upper side edges of said bending levers are inclined inwardly and downwardly toward the cam when in lowered position.

5. A machine as claimed in claim 1 in which the upper die block is formed with laterally extending slots contiguous with the upper portion of the intermediate slot through the upper die block and in which the outer ends of the bending levers are pivoted in the lateral slots at a level slightly below the end of the block to position the side edges of the levers in an aligned horizontal position immediately below the recess when the block is in lowered position.

6. A device as claimed in claim 1 which includes resilient means in the lower die constantly urging the upper block in the direction away from the base block towards its extended position.

(Other references on following page) 7 UNITED STATES PATENTS Grunich -2- Mar. 3, 1891 Franke Apr. 9, 1895 Bennett Nov. 9, 1909 Fn'edman June 3, 1924 0 Leschhorn. Ian. 4, 1927 Levine Feb. 16, 1932 8 Obstfeld Nov. 15, 1932 Kirby Sept. 6, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain June 5, 1924 

